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Posts tagged with "club"

Last Week, on Club MacStories: MusicBox Shortcuts, Great iPad mini Reading Apps, and MacStories Unplugged

Because Club MacStories now encompasses more than just newsletters, we’ve created a guide to the past week’s happenings along with a look at what’s coming up next:

MacStories Weekly: Issue 322

Fetching Apple Music editorial content with one of Federico's shortcuts.

Fetching Apple Music editorial content with one of Federico’s shortcuts.

Up Next

Later today, we’ll be sharing what we’re doing for WWDC this year at MacStories, which includes special events in the Club MacStories+ Discord and a special issue of MacStories Weekly for all Club members.

On Tuesday, May 31st, at 12:30 PM Eastern US time, we’ll be holding a live audio Town Hall in our Discord community for Club MacStories+ and Club Premier members. Federico and I will be joined by a special guest to talk about our expectations for WWDC, take questions from members, and share some of our plans for WWDC week. We’ll also cover a big article Federico is publishing on MacStories this week.


Last Week, on Club MacStories: iOS Features That Should Be Apps and Due as a Work Habit Tracker

Because Club MacStories now encompasses more than just newsletters, we’ve created a guide to the past week’s happenings along with a look at what’s coming up next:

MacStories Weekly: Issue 321


Last Week, on Club MacStories: HomeKit Advice, Behind-the-Scenes of Automation April, and a Reader Home Screen

Because Club MacStories now encompasses more than just newsletters, we’ve created a guide to the past week’s happenings along with a look at what’s coming up next:

MacStories Weekly: Issue 320


Last Week, on Club MacStories: Federico’s New Reminders Setup and Imagining Deeper Integration of Videogames with Apple TV

Because Club MacStories now encompasses more than just newsletters, we’ve created a guide to the past week’s happenings along with a look at what’s coming up next:

MacStories Weekly: Issue 319


Last Week, on Club MacStories: Accessories, a Text to Files Shortcut, MacStories Unplugged, and Interviews with Shortcuts Contest Judges

Because Club MacStories now encompasses more than just newsletters, we’ve created a guide to the past week’s happenings along with a look at what’s coming up next:

MacStories Weekly: Issue 318

Monthly Log: April 2022

This month, we interviewed three of our Automation April Shortcuts Contest judges:

Each judge shared lessons they’ve learned from the hundreds of submissions we’ve received, and shared a recent automation that made a difference to their dailly lives.


Last Week, on Club MacStories: A Shortcuts Workshop, an Email Utility, Giveaways, and a Shortcut for Bundling Other Shortcuts

Because Club MacStories now encompasses more than just newsletters, we’ve created a guide to the past week’s happenings along with a look at what’s coming up next:

Automation April: Shortcuts Workshop Part 2

Last Tuesday, Federico and I were joined by Timery developer Joe Hribar for a special Automation April Shortcuts Workshop Town Hall in the Club MacStories+ Discord community to talk about magic and declared Shortcuts variables, action parameters and how Timery makes use of them, automation triggers, and our hope that Apple will allow third-party apps to act as shortcut triggers in the future.

Last week’s conversation was recorded and released in the Club Town Hall podcast feed.

MacStories Weekly: Issue 317

Triage 2

Triage 2

In Issue 317 of MacStories Weekly:

Up Next

Later this week, we’ll have more app giveaways in our Discord community and MacStories Weekly, we’ll publish the Monthly Log newsletter, and an all-new episode of MacStories Unplugged, our Club-only podcast will be released.


Last Week, on Club MacStories: Discord App Giveaways, an Obsidian Listen and Read Later Setup, and Automating Note Management

Because Club MacStories now encompasses more than just newsletters, we’ve created a guide to the past week’s happenings along with a look at what’s coming up next:

Club MacStories+ Discord Community Giveaways

Last week, we kicked off Automation April app giveaways on Discord for Downie, Permute, Bear, and Streaks, with more to come this week and throughout the month.

MacStories Weekly: Issue 315

Federico's Obsidian and Dataview-based Listen Later setup

Federico’s Obsidian and Dataview-based Listen Later setup


Last Week, on Club MacStories: Automation April, MacStories Unplugged, a Developer Interview, a Reader Setup

Because Club MacStories now encompasses more than just newsletters, we’ve created a guide to the past week’s happenings along with a look at what’s coming up next:

Automation April

Last Friday marked the launch of Automation April, a month-long celebration of automation on Apple’s platforms. Each week during April we’ll be doing giveaways in MacStories Weekly and in our Club MacStories+ Discord community. Between the two, we have over 20 participating apps.

Last week we kicked things off with a MenuBar Stats giveaway in MacStories Weekly and 50% off the first year of Ulysses discount for Club MacStories+ and Premier members that is available throughout April by visiting the Club Discounts page.

MacStories Weekly: Issue 314

Monthly Log: March 2022

Up Next

Today at 12:30 PM Eastern US time, we’ll do the first Shortcuts Town Hall Workshop live in the Club MacStories+ Discord Town Hall Voice Chats channel.

We’ll also continue giveaways in the Club Discord community this week and on Friday in MacStories Weekly.


Introducing Automation April: A Month-Long Community Event About Automation, Featuring Shortcuts, Interviews, Discord Workshops, and a Shortcut Contest

Welcome to Automation April.

Welcome to Automation April.

Over the past decade, MacStories has become the hub for all kinds of user automation. Starting with URL schemes, then Workflow, and eventually Shortcuts, we’ve created hundreds of shortcuts for MacStories readers and Club members and published stories about automation that have been read by millions of people around the world. With the MacStories Shortcuts Archive, launched three years ago, we unified our catalog of free shortcuts in a single gallery; with the arrival of Shortcuts on macOS, we’ve expanded our Mac coverage for Club members and launched a new column and Discord channel all about automation.

I love automation because of what it stands for: giving users – the people – the power to fully control their computer and make it more efficient. To make it truly their own. This is why I’ve been writing about the Shortcuts app for years and why I’ve always believed in it as the future of automation on Apple platforms: it’s the software equivalent of a bicycle for the mind.

For this reason, I’m absolutely thrilled to introduce Automation April, a month-long showcase of automation on Apple platforms by us, developers, and MacStories readers – with a focus on Shortcuts.

For the entire month of April, we will cover automation and Shortcuts – even more than we normally do – on every property of the extended MacStories universe. There will be shortcuts and articles on MacStories; we will post Automation April-themed episodes of AppStories; there will be special content in MacStories Weekly and AppStories+ for Club members; we will host special ‘Town Hall Workshops’ and a dedicated Automation April channel in our Discord community.

But there’s more:

In addition to all of the above, we are launching a contest to pick the best shortcuts submitted by MacStories readers for Automation April.

Starting Monday, April 4th, until Wednesday, April 20th, we will be accepting up to two shortcut entries per user via a dedicated Automation April website. The contest will be open to everyone with a free MacStories account (more on this below). We’ve also assembled a panel of Shortcuts experts who, alongside the MacStories team, will judge shortcuts submitted by people.

Oh, and we’re giving away an Elgato Stream Deck XL and an Analogue Pocket for the Best Overall Shortcut prize. Yep, you read that right.

April has always been a special month for MacStories: the site turns 13 (!) on April 20th, and this isn’t the first time we’ve organized a special event to celebrate our community. But with Automation April, we’ve prepared the biggest event we’ve ever done that will encompass every single aspect of the MacStories family – from the articles you know and love to Discord, the Weekly newsletter, and a brand new community contest.

The next four weeks are going to be fun. So let’s dive in and let me give you an overview of what you can expect from the first edition of Automation April.

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